Blair boys soccer coach Curt Scott was complimentary of his team after a 7-2, rain-delayed home loss to the Class B No. 4 Bennington Badgers on Thursday night.
“To be quite honest, that was our best game, I thought, all season,” he said, standing on wet Krantz Field grass. “Absolutely. I thought our pace of play was fantastic.”
The coach continued.
“All the way around — offensively, defensively and in-transition — that was our best game,” Scott said. “Maybe by far.”
And, so, how did the Bears (2-8 overall) still lose by five goals to the Badgers (12-1)?
“That's just a very, very good team,” the coach said. “That's a very good team over there.”
“Extremely fast,” BHS assistant Bill Kesling added.
“Extremely fast,” Scott repeated. “Their speed up front is hard to contend with.”
Bennington certainly left an impression on those in attendance, scoring two goals before storms moved in over Krantz Field and delayed the match with 22:38 still left in the first half.
Once play resumed, the Badgers scored two more before the intermission.
“Well-seasoned team,” Scott said. “They're probably a top-three team in Class B.”
Then, during the next 40 minutes, Bennington outscored the Bears 3-2. Both Blair goals came off of the foot of midfielder Elias Cortez, a senior leader playing in his final home match.
“It was fitting, absolutely,” Scott said.
Cortez first scored in the 59th minute before unleashing a long shot for his second in the 78th. The goal from midfield cleared the Badger goalkeeper, hit the bottom of the crossbar and went in.
“He's irreplaceable and we'll miss him next year, obviously,” Scott said. “He is soccer and everybody knows it.”
The match between Eastern Midlands Conference foes ended in another delay, albeit a much shorter one. Time appeared to run out just after BHS goalkeeper Mark Donner left the box and collided with a Badger advancing on his position. The referee, however, gave the senior netminder a red card and the Badgers a free kick with time left
After a few minutes of discussion, though, Bennington informed the officials it wouldn't be doing anything more than tapping the ball and the match ended officially.
The Bears' regular season finale is 6:30 p.m. today at Elkhorn High School.
